Africa: Eye-phone set to revolutionise African optical care

Data from each patient is uploaded to a team of specialists, who can come up with a diagnosis and advise on follow-up treatment. The results are also compared to tests taken with professional equipment to check the smartphone is a viable alternative.
The technology is deceptively simple to use and relatively cheap: each ‘Eye-Phone’, as Bastawrous likes to call his invention, costs a few hundred euros, compared to a professional ophthalmoscope that costs tens of thousands of euros and weighs in at around 130 kilogrammes (290 pounds).
Bastawrous said he hopes the ‘Nakuru Eye Disease Cohort Study’, which has done the rounds of 5,000 Kenyan patients, will one day revolutionise access to eye treatment for millions of low-income Africans who are suffering from eye disease and blindness.
With 80% of the cases of blindness considered curable or preventable, the potential impact is huge. Bastawrous says his ‘Eye-Phone’ has proved its worth, and can easily and accurately diagnose ailments including glaucoma, cataracts, myopia and long-sightedness.
Treatments range from prescription glasses and eye drops to complex surgery that is conducted once every two weeks at a hospital in Nakuru, the nearest big town. So far, up to 200 of the 5,000 people involved in the study have had surgery to correct various eye ailments.
Kamau is among those expecting to receive surgery on his blind eye. While doctors say he is unlikely to recover his full vision because the injury was so long ago, they can at least stop the pain and swelling caused by the additional strain on his functioning eye.
“I can hardly do manual work around the farm. Once the sun shines, my eyes water and I feel a lot of pain,” said Kamau, who lives on a small farm with six family members.
A volunteer points out: “…It could have a big impact in terms of eye health. Is it revolutionary eye care? No, there are lots of programs who do that, but there is a gap, and it is about finding patients. That’s what we hope PEEP can provide”
Whether it’s new or not, PEEK certainly gives a new meaning to the term ‘eye’ phone.
Source: http://www.enca.com